What is sad about these small family cemeteries is that I am sure that the families never thought to the future when the land would be sold off and the family would move on. The Voorhis and Demarest names still dot the landscape of Bergen County but these tiny plots are lost to the current generations.
The gravesite of Lucas Van Voorhis
The grave of Mary Demarest, who was the wife of James
The oldest part of the cemetery sits on the highest bluff overlooking the woods and the street. The Eckerson family burial plot is located here with graves dating back to before Revolutionary War.
The Old Tappan Cemetery sits on a hill in the woods
The oldest part of the cemetery sits on the very top of the hill overlooking the neighborhood
The site houses the graves of the Eckerson and Haring families
The cemetery is in a quiet corner between two house in what was once the Haring Farm
The family that is buried here:
(From the Dutch Door Genealogy website)
When some of this property, which originally had belonged to Abraham Jans Haring
according to the Zabriskie genealogy, was sold in 1785, ownerhip of the burial plot
was retained, and is described as being one square chain, which is 66 feet on each
side.
HARING FAMILY BURIAL PLOT AT NORWOOD, BERGEN COUNTY, N.J. ON THE PROPERTY NOW KNOWN AS THE ALLISON FARM.
10718 Abraham J. Haring d.1.1.1801 b.9.30.1720 a.80.3.1 (Tap. #358)
Broken stone
10719 David P. Haring d.9.15.1853 a.78.3.18 (Tap.#2418)
10720 Lydia Zabriskie w. of (Sch.p.186) David P. Haring d.12.30.1869 a.89.4.13
10721 Peter D. Haring d.4.2.1864 a.56.7.22 (Tap.#3727)
10722 Betsey Bogert w. Peter D. Haring d.12.31.1890 a.79.4.6
The front of the Denville Museum at Diamond Spring Road
The front sign for the Denville Museum
The beautiful stained glass sign outside
The front sign of the museum
The front gallery of the museum
The back part of the front gallery of the museum
The Denville Museum is an interesting and beautifully organized museum in Downtown Denville, NJ that tells the history of Denville and the surrounding communities. The collection starts with a collection of Native American artifacts and Revolutionary era household objects.
The early foundation of the Denville community is displayed in the front case
The historical marker that leads you to had path to the cemetery
History of the Cemetery:
(From the Historic Marker sign)
The historic cemetery directly in the rear of the Behnke farm contains the graves of descendants of early settlers in this area including a least two local farmer-militiamen of the American Revolution, Jacobus Brouwer and Henry Banta, as well as the grave of Cornelius Demarest, who served in the 22nd regiment of the Union Army during the Civil War (From Paramus Rotary sign).
The only way into this tiny cemetery is through z path located on Viola Road
The historic little cemetery is rich in history of the first families of Bergen County including Revolutionary War and Civil War veterans
The cemetery is the resting place of members of the Banta, Bogert, Terhune, Van Saun, Demarest, Kipp and Voorhis families
The Van Saun family graves
The Bogart family graves
Video of the Cemetery tour:
My tour of the Old Spring Valley Burial Ground on June 3rd, 2025
On the evening of May 22nd, 2025 our college, Bergen Community College, on the Paramus Campus held a wonderful evening of music, dance, art, fashion and culinary delights through the partnership of the Colleges of Art, Music and Culinary Arts in the School of Business/Hotel Management, which make up the incubator, the Bergen Institute of Creative Arts (BICA). This evening showcased the talents of not just the students but the Professors who taught them as well.
The opening reception welcoming everyone
We started the evening with a wonderful cocktail party which the Culinary students created for everyone to enjoy. The food was wonderful and so beautifully displayed.
The delicious crab cakes and beef and cheese tartlets on the table.
The Caramelized Pork Belly has an Asian flair to it
The Vegetarian Quesadilla
The crab cakes were a big hit
The infused Water, Freshly Brewed Ice Tea and Virgin Sangria were offered as beverages
During the Cocktail Party, I got to talk to some my counterparts and some of the students on their works that night. They had done a wonderful job. The Art Department had their works hung all around the Cocktail Party.
The artwork’s theme dealt with the Migrant Crisis
Pictures of people involved in the Agricultural industry
The Fashion Program also put their designs and fashions on display during the party as well.
The student designers that evening showed their designs first at the Cocktail Party
After the Cocktail Party, we moved into the auditorium for an evening of entertainment. We would be getting to see the talents of the Theater, Dance and Music departments as well. The first to perform were members of the Theater Department, who did a wonderful job with their performances. These students could really belt out a tune.
The musical performance of student singer, Francesca Muffoletto, singing “Always Something More”
Then student singers, Ashlyn Kurtzmann and Christine Dunning performed “Perfect Strangers” from the musical “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”.
The start of the performance
The student singers performing “Perfect Strangers”
Our Dance Department performed next and student dancers, Manna Tao and Lila Knowles performed the dance, “La Bicicleta”.
The student dancers performing “La Bicicleta”
Then our Music Department performed next and one of our Professor’s in the Music Department, Professor John La Barbara, performed with students Steven Hanst and Haydn Day, original songs that he had written. All the music was a Brazilian theme and harmony was brilliant.
Professor John La Barbera with his trio performing “Aqua De Coco”
Professor La Barbera’s original song “Aqua De Coco”
After his performance with his trio, Professor La Barbera performed music from the movies with musician Gunnar Marks, one of our Music students on campus.
The last performance was all the music students, Gabrielle Buttacavole on vocals and Gunnar Marks, Steven Hanst on guitar, Aden Even-Ezra on bass and Michael Ramirez on keyboards performing original songs by both Gabrielle Buttacavole and Gunnar Marks.
The students performing “Share Air” written by the students
After the Intermission, Professor Mary Bays from the Fashion Department introduced her student designers and then they started the fashion show.
Professor Mary Bays introducing the student designers and they started the fashion show.
The Fashion show
The Fashion Show
The Fashion show
The Fashion show
The Fashion Show
Then the student designers came out with their models and did the runway finish with all their creations. These above creative designs were by student designers Michael Agostino, Camila Stefania Rodriguez Cervantes, Ediliana Pena, Priscilla Reyes, Donna Mendoza and Maritza Gomez. Their designs were quite unique.
The student designer and his creations
The student designer and her creations
The student designer and her creations
The student designer and her creations
After the Fashion Show was over to a very rounding success, Professor Ronda Drakeford, Chairwoman of the Hotel and Restaurant program thanked her students for providing the wonderful food for the program. The Culinary students did a wonderful job with both the cocktail hour and the desserts that followed the end of the program.
Then the performances ended and we all went outside the Ciccone Theater to have the dessert hour, which was not quite an hour as all the students, parents and faculty enjoyed the sweets and they were devoured quickly.
The Raspberry Tartlets served after the show
The Raspberry Chocolate Tartlets after the show
It was an excellent evening of students and faculty showing the immense talent of the students at Bergen Community College on our Paramus Campus and the skills they will bring forward in their future colleges and their careers. Congratulations to all our students involved with the Bergen Institute for the Creative Arts (BICA).
